Cashcampus Memory Lane (part 6)
Ok and for the 10 million dollar question: “Why doesn’t cashcampus.com (original) site exist today?” The site started to gain traction, people started to signup, and I was getting some press, all was going well, and then on a hot summer day in July of 2005 the cashcampus.com url goes blank with a note “Sorry, cashcampus.com has been shut down to pursue other projects, email me to keep in touch with my projects.”
It wasn’t easy, but I just didn’t believe in my business model anymore. Yeah, I was making a bit of money and the buzz was getting around, but that’s all ego. It didn’t really matter in the larger scheme of things. I just couldn’t see myself growing a business in the note-paper-tutoring sector anymore. Just wasn’t for me.
It was a decent site, but my heart was really somewhere else. I felt that that site was turning into one of the cheesy buy-a-research-paper sites that you find all over the internet and I just didn’t want any association with that at all. Sure, I could’ve refined the site and tightened my focus, but I just felt that my mental power would be better used in other projects.
So I made the conscious decision to take the site down and go back to the drawing board to make something better, bigger and something that was really in my heart. I took the $12,000 loss that it cost me to build and market the site and moved on.
The experience, knowledge, and understanding that I gained from the start to the end of cashcampus.com was priceless. Yeah, I took a few steps back from my loss, but those few steps back has only allowed me to get that much further.
If your idea turns into something you don’t like, then don’t be afraid to scrap it – that’s fine. As long as you’re still in the game creating something you love, then that’s all that matters. Ideas are meant to be fluid – there are going to be twists and turns along the line to success so you have to be flexible and open to change.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t hurt or fazed by the shutting down of my first site. But I knew that as an entrepreneur there would be times when projects would fail. It comes with the life we live. I now look at failure as a good thing. When you fail at something, it’s only making you stronger and sharper to jump right back. So in failing, you’re only helping yourself get better. You have to use your experiences as fuel to keep your ambitions alive and moving.
I’ve had a lot of time to think since last summer. Since then, my ideas have only been getting stronger and stronger. I’m here to stay and I hope that all of you guys are here to stick out your own entrepreneurial dreams. If you’re not in it for the long-haul then get out now.
It’s not an easy road to success. You’ll be hurt. You’ll be shunned. You may fail from time to time. But if you can see beyond all of that and remain focused on what you’re trying to do in this world, what you’re trying to create, then you’ll soon be sitting in a chair one day basking in success looking back at the days you had it rough as a struggling entrepreneur. You’ll be telling your kids stories about the times you fell but got right back up to try again. And you’ll go to bed at night knowing that you never gave up on your dreams.
That day is tomorrow. So the real question is: “What are you going to do today to make it happen?”
Keep track of Cashcampus Memory Lane
Peter,
I’d love to hear more about your business and the things that you’ve done in your life as an entrepreneur; please share.